Marathon Training Recap: Week 6

This week was another great week in terms of marathon training! There is nothing quite as satisfying as being able to check off every single workout on a training plan. Once I get back in the habit of completing every run and workout without excuses or temptation to skip, it becomes easier and easier to keep going. This was week two of clocking all my scheduled miles without adjustment and I am hoping it continues!

Last weekend’s half marathon left me feeling more sore than I expected, so getting back in the groove at the beginning of this week was a little challenging. There seems to be a fine line between needing to take an extra rest day, or needing an easy run day to ease muscle soreness. A few really easy slow runs this week did the trick and seemed to help speed up my recovery!

I can’t believe that there is just over 3 months until race day already. The first few weeks of marathon training always fly by! Here is my marathon training recap from week 6.

Indianapolis Marathon Training Recap: Week 6

Monday, 7/23 – Yoga

This recovery yoga routine was especially needed after running the half marathon on Sunday! My hips and quads felt especially tight, but I still felt strong and capable during these poses. I love being able to feel a difference in muscle soreness from before and after yoga. This yoga routine has been a game changer during marathon training!

Tuesday, 7/24 – 4 miles

I was surprised by how tight and sore my legs were feeling even after a day of rest. My right hip flexor was feeling especially tight, so I took this run really slow and easy. After the first mile most of the aches and pains went away and I was certainly happy to have completed the run.

Wednesday, 7/25 – 4 miles with 6 x 400s

This run felt great! My right hip flexor was still giving me some pain when I first began this workout, which worried me a little, but the pain seemed to subside after just a few minutes of the warm up. I completed a half mile warm up, followed by 6 sets of 400 meter intervals, followed by 400 meter recoveries. The run ended with a half mile cool down.

The goal was to complete each 400 in 2:11 and my average was 2:08, so I felt pretty happy with that. I was especially excited about the fact that it didn’t feel like I was really pushing it during these intervals. As a numbers person, it is so exciting to compare speeds for interval workouts each week and see progress being made. Hopefully it continues!

(I had this workout programmed into my Garmin and it ended .01 early, which was so annoying;).

Thursday, 7/26 – Strength Workout

After weeks of cutting this workout short, I was happy to complete all the moves without exception. I decided to give the dumbbell arm exercises a try too, since my arms had been feeling pretty good for the past few days. Turned out that that was a mistake, because the next day I woke up with inflamed joints and unable to extend both my arms. Oh well, you live and you learn!

Friday, 7/27 – 5 miles

This was another nice easy run. The weather unexpectedly felt like fall, which was a great surprise when I walked outside midday to complete this run! The cooler weather helped me run faster without planning to and definitely made this run feel less challenging.

Saturday, 7/28 – 6 miles

After a great deal of debate, I decided to get this run done first thing Saturday morning. Waking up early to workout is always so challenging, no matter how much I try to mentally prepare myself ahead of time. Getting out of bed and started running was a struggle, but once I got going I sure was glad I did it. The temperature was much cooler since it was so early and the miles went by quickly! Even so, I was glad to have a cutback in mileage this weekend to wrap up a recovery week from the half marathon.

Sunday, 7/29 – Rest

Marathon training is well underway, and I am excited to focus my full energy on increasing mileage now that the half marathon is complete. This time of the summer is always when those long runs start to feel a little more serious and the depths of marathon training start to take their toll.

No matter what comes my way, I am excited to see what the next 14 weeks brings and how much progress I can make before race day. Happy running, friends!